By Ellie Parrish, American Forests

#GivingTuesday is a movement that’s sweeping the nation.

Observed the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and based on bringing people together to give back to their communities, it was originally organized by the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact as a way to include the charitable sector in the season of giving. #GivingTuesday kicks off the end-of-year fundraising initiatives that are crucial to fund charitable organizations, including American Forests, all year long.

In honor of #GivingTuesday and the season of giving, all gifts to American Forests through Dec. 31, including this #GivingTuesday, will be matched dollar-for-dollar — up to $35,000! — by American Forests Board Chair Bruce Lisman. By supporting American Forests this season, your gift will have double the impact on all the things we love about forests.

Your gift of $35 will have the impact of $70, which could provide a seedling to a community tree nursery we sponsor in Detroit, providing economic opportunity and local tree stock to re-green the city.

Your gift of $50 will have the impact of $100, which could help prevent 100,000 gallons of runoff from fire devastated landscapes in California from polluting vital sources of potable water. Forests are essential for providing clean and reliable drinking water to cities by filtering it as it flows to rivers. Restoring forests that are unable to regenerate on their own after wildfire helps preserve our critical water resources.

Your gift of $100 will have the impact of $200, which could provide an urban tree to a neighborhood in need, providing shade and beauty for decades to come. Trees planted on the west and south side of buildings can reduce summertime electric bills by as much as 30 percent!

And if we reach our goal of raising $35,000, matched to $70,000, we could help rehabilitate degraded mine land in West Virginia for an entire year.

This #GivingTuesday, we invite you to join the movement. Donate to American Forests and support preservation of all the things we love about forests — and your impact will be doubled![af_show_url_button url=”/ways-to-give/giving-tuesday/?source_code=GTLL18″ text=”Give Today”]